


Two Kingdoms

by DinasEmrys



Series: Remnant Fairy Tales [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Adventure and Romance, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Battle Couple, F/F, Magic, Marriage Proposal, Plot, Princesses, Rescue, Swordfighting, Swordplay, True Love, War, badass princesses, medieval politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-01 05:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8610733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinasEmrys/pseuds/DinasEmrys
Summary: When Blake sees an unknown noblewoman attacked on the border, she can't help but get involved. When she learns the noblewoman is the daughter of the Atlesian Emperor, the same man looking for any excuse to invade her nation of Mistral, she tries desperately to get the girl to safety before war breaks out. It doesn't help that Blake is finding herself more and more attracted to the imperial princess. Medieval Monochrome with Princess!Weiss and CrownHeir!Blake.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CourierNinetyTwo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourierNinetyTwo/gifts).



If Blake had known this was the day she would completely, irrevocably ruin her life, she probably would have stayed in bed. She would have ignored her duties. She would have ignored the sound of hooves pounding across the other side of the river. She would have wrapped herself even tighter in her bedroll, hunkered down even deeper into her scout's nest, and never poked her head out until the next dawn.

But she hadn't known. So she woke with the dawn and prepped her daily breakfast of cold rations, as she always did. And as she did every single monotonous morning, she sent her messenger bird back to the forward camp, a little not tied to its leg saying that, once again, this section of the border was utterly deserted. Once that was done, she settled down, her longbow ready at her side, waiting to see if today was the day that the Atlesian forces would try to cross the border.

It was much like any other day she had spent as part of the border patrol. The Acier River before her coursed along, marking the border between the Atlesian Empire's western edge and her own nation of Mistral. She shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her. The fall air was just a shade too cool, every other breeze making her dread the coming winter. Every so often, one of the leaves would fall, carpeting the ground in reds and yellows. Eventually she would have to change her vantage point – in a few weeks there wouldn't be enough leaves left to serve as cover.

Birds passed, chirping their songs, flying by on their way south. Apart from them, the place was abandoned. No one came by – no one _ever_ came by – except for the occasional woodsman following a deer track.

Her post had always been quiet. In hindsight, it was probably why she had been put there to begin with. It let her serve, let Blake do her duty to her country, and still managed to keep the crown princess of Mistral out of harm's way.

It wasn't what she had been hoping for, when she spoke to her parents and insisted they let her do her duty to the nation. Made the point that the heir to the throne had a responsibility to serve the kingdom, same as every other Mistrallan of an age to fight. That it would be cowardice to remain safe and secure at the palace while Atlas tested their borders.

Still, Blake understood. It made sense they would want their daughter, their only heir, as far away from the action as they could get her. Why no commander would want to be responsible for her, would want to risk ordering their rulers' child to her death.

 _I suppose it's best for everyone_ , Blake sighed, breathing on her hands to warm them. _I get to serve in some small way, and they avoid the succession crisis that would happen if I died._ It made sense. She understood. She really did.

She still hated it.

The monotony, the endless boredom, the hours upon hours of absolutely nothing were so normal that it took her longer than she would ever admit to notice the sound of hooves pounding across the ground.

Blake looked up, just in time to watch as a carriage raced down the riverbank, the driver flailing with the reins and nursing an arrow wound in his shoulder. A riderless horse ran beside them, the red-stained saddle leaving little doubt about what happened to the owner. Six – no – seven riders raced behind, dressed in furs and tattered leather, with rough iron axes hanging from their belts. Arrows soared through the air, the pursuers firing shot after shot towards the desperately weaving carriage as they pounded across the dirt.

 _Bandits_. Blake cursed under her breath and hunkered deeper behind her cover. An arrow was already nocked in her bow, the string half-pulled before she realized what she was doing. Slowly, she let her bow slack, every millimeter a painful exercise of will.

There wasn't anything she could do. Whatever happened, it was on the other side of the border. If an enemy scout crossed the river, it would practically be a declaration of war. Even worse, if the Mistrallan heir crossed into Atlas ... it would give the Atlesian Emperor exactly the kind of justification he needed to invade. There wasn't a choice. She had to stay put, had to do nothing but watch as the raiders descended on the carriage.

No matter how much she hated it.

The driver looked back once and cracked the reins, swerving to the right before making a wide turn left towards the water. Blake followed the path with her eyes, trying to think of something, anything she could do. Then she saw where the carriage was headed, and in one swift motion she grabbed her bow and dropped from her post to the ground below.

The carriage was making for the bridge, an older wooden structure that crossed the border a few dozen feet downstream from Blake's position. There wasn't anything she could do about the Atlesian side of the river. But if they crossed the bridge, if they made it into Mistral ... well, she'd happily take the reprimand for abandoning her post if it saved whoever was in the carriage.

 _Maybe in Atlas, they could get away with attacking travelers on the road,_ she thought, fingers clenched tight around the handle of her bow. _But not here. Not with me._

Moving through the trees, she ducked and weaved, yanking her hood up and over her head as she ran. She was practically silent – months of watching this one spot had given her an instinctive knowledge of the terrain. Blake knew where the branches were, had spent days moving silently through the trees, avoiding every twig and crinkled leaf that might give her away. Keeping her eyes on the horses, she pulled back the string on her longbow, ready to fire the second the carriage was on her side of the river. _If they could just-_

Her heart dropped as an arrow flew from one of the brigands and caught the driver right at the base of the neck. The man went stiff, then toppled sideways, dragging the reins with him as he fell from the carriage seat. The horses turned, yanked to the side by the dragging reins, before a massive crack filled the air.

The carriage, already damaged from the chase, hadn't survived the turn. One of the axels cracked, shattered, and sent pieces flying out behind it. Yanked to the side by the horses, the carriage scraped sideways along the bridge, tried to stay upright, then toppled onto its side. The leads snapped, leaving the horses to run free across the bridge as the carriage slammed headlong into the support struts, crashing in an explosion of wood and splinters.

Blake swore. Even from this distance, she could see the shattered spokes and the axel haft sailing out into the river.

 _Ten more feet. They couldn't have made it ten more, gods-cursed feet._ She carriage had made it to the bridge, sure, but they crashed on the Atlas side.

Blake froze behind the cover of the trees, an arrow already cocked and ready to fire. There wasn't anything she could do. As far as anyone would care, they were still on Atlesian soil. Atlas was bound to have scouts on their side of the river, just as Mistral had her. If she crossed the bridge, if someone happened to see her, if she went to help ...

The door to the carriage swung open, cracking against the broken bridge supports, and suddenly Blake's choice was made for her. A hooded figure struggled free of the wreckage and dropped down onto the bridge, catching themselves on hands and knees before struggling onto their feet.

It was a woman, Blake realized, billowing white cloak obscuring most of her form apart from the feminine line of her hips and the thin-bladed longsword she drew from her side. Turning to face the onrushing brigands, the carriage passenger planted her feet and leveled the blade in front of her, shifting into a defensive stance as the bandits charged forward. They howled war cries as they charged, laughter echoing off the water, the mere sound making Blake's blood run cold.

Blake had heard that sound before – seen the aftermath of bandit attacks when her father and mother took her on their trips to aid the survivors. Despite her parent's best efforts to hide the worst from her, she'd seen the bodies. She heard what happened to the survivors – the grieving, the injured, the ones unlucky enough to be carried off by the brigands. She had hidden, a ten year-old behind a ring of guards, as raiders descended on one of the villages, only to panic when they found the royal guard had moved in to defend the townsfolk.

_Not here._

Blake's arrow caught the first bandit in the throat. The man jerked and toppled forwards, dragging the reins with him as he fell. He landed, tangled among his horse's feet. The animal brayed and stumbled, then crashed to the ground atop its rider, kicking and trying to free itself as the other bandits reared to a halt behind it.

She acknowledged a surge of sympathy for the horse – it couldn't be blamed for its rider – and nocked another arrow. _As it is, the poor thing should slow the other bandits down._

Her second arrow caught one man in the shoulder, but the third thudded harmlessly into the bridge. By then, the brigands had noticed, were wise to the archer in the woods. Grabbing shields covered in hide, they leapt from their mounts and ran forward, shields held up to protect their faces. Blake tried to sight on their legs, tried to take them out at the knees.

There wasn't a clean shot, not with the bridge and the carriage wreck blocking her line of sight.

"Make for the trees!" she shouted to the passenger, stepping out towards the bridge, still firing towards the raiders. She couldn't cross the bridge, couldn't step onto enemy territory ... _But no one ever said I couldn't defend_ this _side._

Either the woman couldn't hear her, or simply chose to ignore her. Instead of running, instead of taking shelter on the one side of the bridge Blake could actually protect, she stood her ground as the first brigand closed with her.

 _Is she deaf, or just insane?_ Blake thought, firing as quickly as she dared, feet pounding against the dirt as she ran forward. None of her shots found their mark, but they kept the raiders careful. Forced them to be wary of the falling barbs, rather than surround the one poor woman on the bridge. _The poor woman who ..._

Blake blinked with surprise as the cloaked woman sidestepped neatly away from the bandit's swing. Her thin blade sliced down his arm, severing muscles and tendons, before moving on to the next bandit coming across the wooden slats. She was quick and nimble, avoiding blows rather than parrying them, and finding just the right time for a counter attack before dancing back out of reach.

Five-on-one were still poor odds, and it wasn't long before the woman was forced back, blade whipping about wildly as she tried to keep them from surrounding her. One bad blow caught on the guard of her blade and threw her aside. She slammed into the side of the bridge with a painful thwack. In seconds, the bandits had her surrounded, trapped with her back against the wooden sides.

Blake's blade was halfway through the nearest bandit's chest before he noticed she was there.

The next few seconds of the fight were a blur. Before she knew it, Blake was standing back-to back with the hooded woman, parrying and lunging with lightning speed at the surrounding brigands. The raiders' weapons were old and scrounged, pitted wood and clumsy iron. They were no match for a well-swung longsword, and within three swings, Blake sent two of their weapons spinning into the water.

She fell into a rhythm, parrying, riposting, stepping to the side as the hooded woman whipped by to take advantage of one opening or another. They moved like a pair of matched blades, circumstance and need somehow putting them in almost perfect sync.

Her breath came in short, heavy pants, her teeth bared as she blocked another downswing. They could do this, she realized, sparing the white-cloaked woman a brief glance. Four of the bandits were already down. If they could just ...

Everyone froze as a mighty crack split the air. Tearing her eyes away from the battle, Blake looked up, and swallowed as ice water shot down her veins.

The carriage had split the central support when it crashed. The crack extended up and up, traveling along the grain until it began to buckle, shift, then finally snapped. The whole bridge shook, knocking a few of the bandits off their feet as the wooden supports began to fall, the floorboards curving and snapping as the bridge collapsed.

 _Shit,_ Blake thought, and grabbed the hooded woman. They needed to move. To run. Now. If they could make it off the bridge ...

"Watch out!"

A hand slammed hard into her shoulder before she could realize who had spoken. Blake stumbled, tripping over the bucking floorboards, and turned back just in time to watch one of the support beams fall exactly on the spot where she'd been standing. Instead, it hit the boards and twisted, cracking into the head of the woman who had pushed Blake out of harm's way.

The woman went down, collapsing just as the bridge finally fell apart. Blake felt the ground fall out from under her, frigid water slamming into her as she plunged, helpless, into the depths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of background. This started as a prompt on my tumblr for TheIvoryTowerCrumbles / CourierNinetyTwo, got expanded by another royalty prompt by another tumblr account, and kinda turned into a thing when I made videos and pics using the Fire Emblem GBA engine for it. So, I thought I might as well post what I have for it - since I was too busy to get any other writing done this week. Sorry about that.
> 
> Anyway, please comment if you can spare the time. I read all of them, and it's great to hear people's insights and get constructive criticism from time to time. Also, I'll answer pretty much any question I can, so feel free to ask those here or on my tumblr - redsuitwriter.
> 
> You can also find the pics and videos for this AU there. Just search for 'Two Kingdoms' on my blog page. Or send in your own royalty prompts off the prompt list. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake hit the water and for a second, all she knew was cold. The air rushed from her lungs as she plunged into the pounding river, pieces of the bridge falling in every direction. The late autumn water felt like ice, biting into her flesh. She gasped, from pain and shock, her eyes going wide as water rushed down her throat.

Out of instinct, she kicked for the surface, clawing her way through the water as she forced herself not to breathe. Her lungs were burning, begging for air. She needed up. She needed out, and soon, or-

Her head crested the surface, and Blake coughed and coughed, jerking and spinning as the current carried her along. She fought to stay on the surface, her first real breath taking in more water than air. Her soaked hood kept falling into her eyes, but she didn't dare take the time to push it back. Her head pounded, one more pain to ignore as she scanned back and forth, searching the water for the woman from the carriage.

 _She_ had _to have fallen in. She was right beside me, if she-_

 _There!_ Blake saw the cloak, the ends of the white cloth trailing along the river's surface. She forced herself forward, arms and legs aching as she fought against the current. Her lungs hurt and begged for her to stop and breathe, to wait for the world to stop spinning. She ignored them, the adrenaline driving her on. She knew she had to get to the woman, had to keep her from drowning. Everything else was an afterthought.

The current shifted, and Blake just managed to grab the edge of the cloak before it could pass her. Hauling on the cloth, she pulled the woman up and out of the water, one arm wrapped across her chest to keep her head above the rapids. Legs burning with the effort, she kicked and pulled, knowing the river only got faster from here. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, panic starting to set in. She needed land. She needed real air. She could hear the cries and shouts of bandits rushing downriver, the sound of wood slabs and supports breaking against the rocks. Her grip on the woman was loosening ...

Pain shot up her arm as her hand struck stone. Reaching for the first boulder she could, Blake grabbed and held on, her body still yanked downstream by the current. With the last bit of strength she had, Blake heaved again and again, until finally, they slid bodily up and out of the water.

For a split second, she just breathed, panting with exhaustion, the hard stone feeling lovely and firm against her cheek. Then her eyes shot open as she remembered the woman beside her. Scrabbling against the rock, Blake turned the cloaked woman onto her back. She wasn't moving. From what Blake could tell, she wasn't breathing. _How long was she under?_ It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but she had gotten hit right before the fall. If she'd already been unconscious ...

Blake grabbed for the cloak, trying to get it off the woman as quickly as she could. She had to get the water from her lungs. If she didn't, if the woman died, all of this would have been for naught. Untangling the clasp around her neck, Blake threw back the hood and froze, terror sinking icy claws into Blake's chest.

_No. No. No no no._

The most beautiful woman Blake had ever seen lay on the rock before her. She was small, petite, with hair the color of snow and a long dueling scar that cut across one eye and down her cheek. Her skin was the color of polished ivory, with a strong jaw and painted lips that curved in a slight pout. Blake had no doubt that the second she opened her eyes, they would be an icy blue, as cold and unforgiving as the water she'd just pulled them from.

For a split second, Blake considered throwing the girl back into the river. Then she thought about running, heading back to her post and sending a message to the forward base about a very strange incident she had _very distantly_ witnessed. Anything other than staying here with the white-haired girl. After all, there was only one family with _that_ genetic legacy. And only one young woman with that hair and that scar.

_She has to be from House Schnee. The ruling house of Atlas. And with the scar, she's Weiss Schnee. The younger daughter of Emperor Schnee._

_I don't deserve this. I swear by the gods, I celebrate their name days. I've done nothing to earn this. Why by the Dark God did have to be one of_ them?

Blake shook her head and pressed her palms hard against the center of the girl's chest. If anything, now it was twice as important that the girl live. If a Schnee died, on the Mistral side of the border, near _her_ ... she didn't want to think about the fallout for that.

Moving as quick as she could, she turned the girl's head to the side, watching as a little water spilled out from her mouth. Taking a deep breath, Blake leaned in, and pressed her mouth to the Schnee girl's, fingers pinching her nose shut. Only when she was almost out of air did she pull away, breathing again, then pushing more air down her throat. Nothing. She breathed again, pushing the air out until she coughed. The girl had to wake up. She _had_ to. _Come on_ , Blake thought, leaning in again. _Come on. Everything is so,_ so _screwed if you die._

Her mouth closed on the girl's for the fourth time. She had just started to breathe out when the girl jerked and coughed, spitting river water onto Blake's face.

Relief washed over her. A bone-deep relief that swept all of the energy from her and left her a limp, exhausted, wreck. A Schnee hadn't died in her arms. She wasn't responsible for the death of one of the royal family. _That means no invasion, no retribution. No excuse to break the treaty. Wonderful. I didn't fuck everything up._

"What did you think ... you were _doing_?" the white-haired girl managed between coughs, one hand pressing on her chest as her body tried to get the last of the water from her lungs. Blake reached out to pat her back – it was the only gesture she was physically capable of after all that. Instead the woman slapped her hand away, eyes like pools of ice glaring over at her.

"Keeping you from drowning."

"Obviously," the girl snapped and took a breath, looking surprised that she didn't cough this time. When she was sure the water was gone, she pushed herself up, sitting straight as she glowered at Blake. "I meant ... on the bridge. I had them. Probably would have been fine if you hadn't gotten in my way."

"... right." Blake was too tired to argue. If the princess wanted to believe she could have handled seven opponents on her own, that was her business. Blake's was making sure that no one, _ever_ , found out what just happened.

The two women sat there for a long time, staring blankly at the river. The bandits were long gone, carried downstream and out of sight by the current. Pieces of the bridge floated by, broken shard of wood that made Blake thank the stars they hadn't been crushed as well as nearly drowned. Both of them were exhausted, soaked to the bone, and completely drained of the energy to do anything more than sit and breathe.

"Where am I?" the princess asked finally, her head resting back against the stone.

"Mistral, technically." Blake pointed across the river. "You're right on the border. There's a bridge about day's ride upriver – if you make it back across, you'll be in Atlas."

The Schnee girl nodded and fell silent, staring up at the sky from the rock.

With the fight and the struggle to keep both of them from a watery grave, Blake hadn't noticed how cold it was. Not until the wind picked up, cooling the already-frigid water soaked into her clothes. Shivering, she forced herself up on boneless arms, grabbing at her wet clothes to try to get them away from her skin. She needed a fire, and fast, before the water and the cold air made her ill.

"I suppose I should th-" the girl turned to look at her, then froze as Blake pulled the soaked-through hood away from her face, eyes tracking up to the two feline ears that sat atop Blake's head.

"You're ... a Faunus," she said, apprehension in her eyes as she looked back, eyes darting from Blake's ears to her eyes, and back again.

Cursing under her breath, Blake finishing pulling the wet cloth away and shoved it haphazardly into her belt. Of course a Schnee would react to her being a Faunus. It wasn't even a surprise – Atlesians weren't exactly known for their tolerance of her people. If Blake hadn't been so exhausted, if she had taken the time to think, she probably would have left the hood on, pneumonia or no.

"Come on," she said, too tired to do anything about it, and barely able to muster up the energy to talk. "We need to get moving."

"Excuse me?"

With a sigh, Blake looked back at the imperial princess. "I'm cold. I'm tired. I don't really want to catch cold or freeze to death. And if you die of fever or the cold on our side of the border, all hell breaks loose." The thought made Blake grimace. "I need a fire, and from the look of you, you could use one too."

Weiss gave her a long, searching stare while Blake waited, shivering in the cold. She couldn't blame her, not for this at least. Trapped in hostile territory, having just been attacked by armed bandits ... _That would be enough to make anyone suspicious, even if she didn't believe I was some half-rabid beastman._

Whatever the girl thought, she didn't say it. Pushing herself to her feet, the princess bundled her sodden cloak into her arms and turned to face her rescuer. "My name-"

"Princess Weiss, of House Schnee," Blake drawled, leaving out the string of other titles, the various lands and honors she had received as an imperial princess. "Don't look so surprised. That scar with that hair makes you pretty easy to spot."

Weiss scowled, her mouth curling in a noticeable pout. "And you are?"

"... Blake. Just Blake."

"Fine, 'Blake'," she snapped, holding her cloak to her as she stepped off the rock. "Are you going to just stand around, or will we get going before we freeze?"

* * *

Both of them were shaking by the time they made it back to Blake's camp, damp clothes and the chill fall air slowly turning the two women a shade of blue. Tossing Weiss one of the blankets, Blake dug out her flint and steel and busied herself with the fire pit. It took twice as long to get the fire going – her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Finally, the flint sparked, and the fire crackled to life. Her whole body trembling, Blake grabbed a blanket of her own, throwing it over her and stripping off as many soaked-through layers as she could. From the sounds on the other side of the fire, the princess was doing the same, laying her own clothes out to dry in the heat.

An hour later found both of them bundled up on opposite sides of the flames, staring at each other occasionally though the fire's light. Their clothes hung from the branches nearby, slowly drying as smoke spiraled up into the sky.

"So," Weiss said, when the silence became too much. "My escorts are dead, and you've managed to accidentally 'capture' an imperial princess. What now? Ransom me? Kill me now as a message to my father?"

"Gods no," Blake shuddered, not sure if it was from the cold or the thought of what would happen if a Mistralan kidnapped an Atlesian princess. What would happen if the Mistralan _heir_ kidnapped an Atlesian princess. _War, at least._

"I need you back across that border as soon as possible. The last thing anyone needs is your emperor on a tear over someone abducting his daughter."

Weiss huffed and hunkered deeper beneath her blankets, hands outstretched towards the flames. Even bundled in a spare blanket and with her hair matted against her head, she still managed to look prim and proper, running her hands over each other to spread the heat.

"Why did you fire on those brigands?" she asked suddenly, eyes still trained on the fire.

"You mean, 'why would a Faunus stick her neck out'?" Blake growled. The Schnee Emperor's distaste for non-humans was legendary. It wasn't a stretch to imagine that same hatred extending to his daughter.

Weiss shrugged. "Why would you attack if you were not planning to capture me? Were you hoping for gold from the carriage? That there might be a reward for my rescue?"

"Please. I saw someone in trouble. I helped."

"Really? You would risk seven-on-two odds to save some random traveler? A random traveler from an enemy nation. Near a border where, if you were caught, you'd be executed as an enemy spy."

Blake glowered at her from across the fire. What was wrong with this girl? She'd just saved her life, helped fight off the bandits after her and pulled her from the river. Hell, she'd breathed _life_ back into her. _And now she's sitting there, acting like I'm an honorless thug. Trust a Schnee to be ungrateful._

"You wouldn't?" she asked, her voice harsh.

"One of my people? Of course I would," Weiss said, sounding earnest. "Their lives are my responsibility. I'm nobility. You're not."

Blake snorted. So that was it. She should have expected it, really – that a Schnee princess would assume the only people capable of honor would be the nobility. _And being a Faunus, and out in the middle of nowhere on the border, she assumes I'm not._ Which, when Blake thought about it, was probably for the best. She didn't need this girl knowing who she was, that Blake's blood was as blue as hers. Weiss was wrong, in more ways than one, but she didn't need to know that.

"I've seen what bandits leave behind," she said finally. It wasn't the whole truth, but it was true enough to suit her purposes. "I don't care if our nations are at war, Schnee. No one deserves that."

That shut her up.

For a long while they both sat, still and silent, lost in their own thoughts. Blake tried not to think about how many ways this could go wrong. About what might happen if someone found the pieces of the carriage before Weiss made it back to civilization. About what her commander would think, if he ever found out she'd risked her life, risked war with Atlas, to save some noble ingrate.

 _Gods, I'm in trouble,_ she thought. What _would_ her commander do if she brought Weiss back to the forward camp? That would be the proper thing. To bring Weiss back, to send her up the chain of command and let her be someone else's problem. Someone with years of experience and the resources to protect themselves.

It would be the easy option. The safe option. In many ways, it was the right thing to do, and for any other noblewoman of Atlas, that was exactly what she'd do.

All she'd have to do is hand Weiss over to a man who hated her father with every fiber of his being.

 _Even Adam wouldn't risk war, just for revenge._ At least, she hoped he wouldn't. But what if he couldn't keep his head? Blake knew what the Emperor's soldiers had taken from him. If he lost control, even for a second ...

And what if he didn't? What if he did his duty and handed her up the chain? There was no way to tell if whoever ultimately had to deal with this girl would just return her. Even if she wrote to her parents, even if she used her position to stay by Weiss the entire time – _another torment I don't need_ – there was every chance they would try to use her as a bargaining chip. Use her as a ploy to strengthen the peace treaty, or keep her as a hostage. She'd sat in on her father's war meetings. She knew some of the generals were just as hungry for war as the Schnee Emperor was.

No, she needed to get Weiss back across. Blake needed her safe, in her own lands, surrounded by guards, and nowhere near any Mistralan Faunus who might be blamed if something happened to her. That was the only way to keep the peace.

 _Why? s_ he thought again and again, the word turning round and round in her head. _Why of all people did it have to be_ her?

A quiet voice broke through her thoughts. "What _are_ you planning to do with me?"

Blake looked up to find the princess staring at her. It wasn't a scowl – Blake had been treated to a fair few of those over the past hour. The apprehension was still there, but she didn't look suspicious. Or angry. Just ...

 _Lost._ Blake decided, recognizing that look, and willing to bet she had the same expression on her face. _She has no idea what to do next. Her carriage is gone, the horses ran off, most of our weapons went down with the river. She's stuck in the wilderness with a sword hanging over her head, waiting until her father finds her missing and orders his troops to attack, or she gets found and attacked by bandits. Or wild animals._

_Suppose that makes two of us._

"Honestly?" Blake said, staring helplessly out into the forest around them. "I have absolutely no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review if you can spare the time. I read all of them, and it's great to hear people's insights and get constructive criticism or just hear how people felt, even if it's a couple words. Also, I'll answer pretty much any question I can, so feel free to ask those here or on my tumblr - redsuitwriter.
> 
> You can also find the pics and videos for this AU there. Just search for 'Two Kingdoms' on my blog page. Or send in your own royalty prompts off the prompt list. Thanks for reading!


End file.
